A Vase of Chrysanthemums
by marzoog
Summary: A little Ilse vingette taking place during Emily Climbs. Ilse reflects on her hate of chrysanthemums before she throws the vase of them at the wall. Some Ilse/Perry R&R PLESAE!!!!


A/N Well, this is my second Ilse/Perry. It was inspired partly by Una-Blythe's wonderful "Tree of Knowledge", and this paragraph from Emily Climbs. 

"A Vase of Chrysanthemums"

by marzoog

"Ilse was on the carpet in the principal's room yesterday for walking home from school with Guy Lindsay. Something Dr. Hardy said made her so furious that she snatched up a vase of chrysanthemums that was on his desk and hurled it against the wall, where of course it was smashed to pieces." 

-Emily Climbs, Chapter 7 "Pot-pourri"

Ilse Burnley scowled at Perry Miller's back as he was hunched over an assignment on a lazy October day. The mere fact that he hadn't finish the work, while almost everyone in the class was done, made her furious. Did he want to be thought dumb? 

The scowl deepened and Ilse looked away and out the window to the mellow October colors and sunshine. How disgustingly cheerful it was! It hadn't had to overhear Evelyn Blake say contemptuously to Mary that she should "stop dangling over Perry Miller if he only has eyes for Emily Starr." Grr…. Ilse felt as if she could have killed Evelyn on the spot….The very idea of her dangling over Perry Miller! Why…why… that ASS! Who would be stupid enough to even like him, let alone love him? Even if you didn't hate him for….Ilse was startled to find herself thinking what she DID hate him for anyway…Why did she hate him? Surely she should know…

I know he is bull-headed, and can't take a hint…and….and is just generally dreadful….but…but…

Ilse again glared at his backside. Sitting there so calmly and smug-like! What right did he have to look so smug? Ilse looked more closely and noticed his gaze on Emily. She suddenly felt a needle go through her veins. What was that? Ilse felt it again as she looked at his woebegone face…What right did he have to look so calm, yet woebegone, just because Emily Starr didn't like him at all in the way he wanted her to?

Then Ilse realized that, while his eyes looked generally upset and full of longing, he was still calm. 

He wasn't in love with her. He must be imagining it….right?

Ilse went away from these disturbing thoughts as she noticed the vase of chrysanthemums on the teacher's desk. She had always hated chrysanthemums. One time Perry had given Emily a chrysanthemum for her hair at school long ago. Ilse, for some unknown reason, hadn't forgotten it. Maybe that was why she had hated it when someone had put a vase of chrysanthemums on all of the teacher's, including Dr. Hardy, desks. She hated seeing them in every single classroom. 

It still reminded her of the one Perry had given Emily. And then, when she remembered and thought about that for a minute, she would feel the needle thing again….

It just wasn't fair. 

Class was dismissed. Emily had gone ahead, and Ilse could see her talking to Perry. Needles were in her blood again…

Ilse supposed, flippantly, that Emily would finally condescend to break the rules and walk home with him. Fine then, that was ALRIGHT with her. She would show him that she didn't care. Him? Shouldn't be her? Shouldn't she be mad at Emily for leaving her alone? The funny thing was, as Ilse incredulously discovered, she wasn't mad at Emily. She was mad at…Perry. For, not asking Emily, but for breaking the rules. This was a funny thing to be mad at….It was something that didn't matter to her…didn't matter in the least. 

If Ilse hadn't been on the war path to find some boy to walk with her and get back at Perry and Emily, she would have seen them split at the door and go their separate ways. 

She saw Guy Lindsay at the door waiting for his friends. She, as expressed to Emily, "turned on her charm." Guy Lindsay swallowed it up, and soon he asked her, daringly of course, to walk home with him. Ilse, her eyes smarting, accepted. 

She realized, as she got quickly bored of Guy's ceaseless chatter, that she wished it had been Perry Miller. She was so startled over this revelation that she acted quite dumb before the ceaselessly chattering Guy. 

Just as they rounded the bend to her boarding house, two things happened. One, Ilse saw Emily walking ALONE towards the boarding house, and two, she saw Evelyn Blake leaving it. She had two distinct convictions: 1. joy (So Perry hadn't walked Emily home after all!), and 2. panic (Evelyn Blake will tell everyone that I was walking home with a boy!). 

Ilse's panic subsided as she bid an aloof farewell to Guy and walked into her boarding house. Who cared anyway. It was just some stupid rule. There were more important things. 

After Emily left, Ilse climbed into bed and clenched her teeth…..Perry Miller indeed. She would make that ass pay! Him with his stupidity and his daftness and his chrysanthemums! 

The next morning as Ilse walked into the school she knew instantly that it had been spread around that she had walked home with Guy Lindsay. She found herself being called into Dr. Hardy's room. Oh no….there were those hated chrysanthemums on his desk….

As Dr. Hardy rattled on and gave her a small lecture she stared with contempt at those chrysanthemums. They were an abomination. Just because Perry Miller had liked Emily Starr gave him no reason to show it off by giving her those awful showy flowers. 

In the middle of the lecture Ilse couldn't contain her anger any longer. 

She jumped up and took the vase of chrysanthemums. She sent them flying across the room towards the wall. The hateful chrysanthemum vase was broken to bits against the wall. The chrysanthemums were still lying in the midst of all the pieces. Ilse was satisfied, having wreaked her anger. 

She had pretended that the wall was Perry Miller's face. 

A/N This obviously needs TONS of editing, but I hope you like it. I'll edit it soon and post as a second chapter. I know Ilse says to Dr. Hardy that if she hadn't thrown them at the wall she would have had to thrown them at him, but I can imagine she was actually thinking of Perry saying that. Sorry this fic was so weird….

Don't give up on me! I will update!

Have a great day!

The Minnesotan in England

@@@marzoog@@@


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